The Kansas City Chiefs got exposed in their win over the Miami Dolphins, and Patrick Mahomes took some big hits.
The Kansas City Chiefs are 3-0, but they got a bit exposed in last Sunday’s 24-10 win over the lowly Miami Dolphins. Several issues became weaknesses, most noticeably their problems at left tackle, according to a writeup from Jesse Newell of The Athletic.
Josh Simmons is still struggling with a back injury, and there’s no clear sign of exactly when he’ll be back. The Chiefs unveiled new left tackle Kahlil Benson as a road grader in the running game in their opener, but he was “beaten often” in the second half by Miami’s edge rushers, per Newell.
This is a huge issue for the Chiefs given some of the hits quarterback Patrick Mahomes took. He was left running for his life on several plays, which should seem all too familiar to both fans and coaches. Benson promised to get on the things he knows he needs to clean up, and he’ll do it in the film room, per Newell.
A related weakness surfaced in the running game as well, where Kenneth Walker III had 70 yards on 18 carries. He was good but by no means dominant, especially in short yardage, where Miami had multiple defenders coming from all sides and angles to swarm Walker, who was stoned despite some of his usual formidable second efforts.
Defensively, other problems resurfaced, especially on third down. The Dolphins were able to get four conversions of at least eight yards. The Chiefs had their second game in a row where they went without a sack, and this was against a Miami team that allowed a league-high nine sacks through the first two games.
Miami was surprisingly strong at times offensively against the Chiefs, but they weren’t able to convert yardage into points. The Dolphins were able to keep Willis clean, and he threw for 210 yards. This was after losing running back De’Von Achane early, and rookie receiver Chris Bell had four catches for 67 yards.
The letdown question came up as a result, but several of the more prominent Chiefs tried to deflect it, with tight end Travis Kelce trotting out the cliche about how hard it is to win in the NFL, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes saying he wasn’t about to get mad about winning.
But receiver Rashee Rice did make a telling comment about the contrast between the Miami game and the previous two efforts in prime time, stating that the Chiefs need to bring their own energy and set the tone in games like this.
